the princess plan
by hanakos
Summary: in a modern world, an old-fashioned princess decides to carry out a very old-fashioned plan to avoid marriage: get a fake boyfriend, or in her case, a fake husband. unfortunately it is harder than it sounds. —len/miku
1. butlers and brawls

"Princess Miku, I do not see how this will help," the princess's most trusted butler, Gakupo, said rather stiffly, adjusting his pen and paper. Miku the princess huffed in her chair, her dress a pool of fabric around her, and crossed her arms.

"It will," she declared confidently. "I will do almost anything to get myself out of this marriage."

"But princess," Gakupo said, looking very uncomfortable in the armchair as opposed to Miku, who laced her fingers together and fluffed up a pillow to put behind her back. "You're eighteen and you should marry, for the country's good."

"Well, I do not care about the country's good and all that, what do they call that, Gakupo, carp?" Miku said, scratching at one of the elaborate curls that managed to slip out from her bun.

"I believe it's called crap, princess, because a carp is a fish." Gakupo said.

"Ah," said Miku.

"Do you still want me to write the letter?" Then, as an afterthought, he added, "it might not work, princess, and I suggest that you stop before any energy is wasted."

"No one's energy will be wasted except for yours," the princess said snappishly, to which Gakupo quipped with an "exactly" that rendered her speechless. She wondered if butlers are supposed to act like that to their masters, but no matter.

Unknown to the pair, Miku's royal parents, the king and queen watched them through a surveillance camera. While the queen was sighing and pressing her hand to her head as though she has a faint spell, the king was looking like he's going to choke while holding back on his laughter.

"Ah, isn't our daughter obstinate?" He said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye away quickly before his wife saw. "I love her stubborn spirit, don't you?"

"I can't say that I don't," the queen admitted grudgingly. "But it certainly gets in the way of everything. She even got Gakupo to help her, look at that."

"Typical Gakupo" is what the king replied to that, and watched as the butler tried to convince the princess to get married and generally behave. His eyes watered and the queen gived him strange looks. In the end she interpreted the tears as tears of unwillingness to see his daughter grow up and she herself teared up as well. The two of them sat down before the computer, both sniffing and quietly sobbing for completely different reasons.

"Ah, okay," the king said suddenly, thinking that his ribs might crack if he continued to hold in his laughter, "if Miku doesn't want to get married so soon, we'll postpone the date while waiting for Prince Rei's reply and give her some time to think about it, then."

The queen let out a choked sob at this, thinking that the king is so protective of his daughter and used Prince Rei as an excuse not to give her away. "You need to get over your love for Miku, you know, if you need her to marry." She said tearfully, and the king blinked in confusion.

"Um," he said quietly. "Yes, well, I love Miku a lot, sure, but I don't really get what you're talking about?" He asked carefully, managing to rein in his laughter. Unfortunately, on the screen, Miku and Gakupo had the funniest conversation he has ever heard. It went like this:

Miku: Okay, Gakupo, I think if we live in this 'modern' world, we must talk like the modern people as well.

Gakupo: I don't follow, princess.

Miku: Never fear, Gakupo, for I have this book on how to talk modern. Or at least it seems like it. The title 'How to Get Girls' seems promising. Will you please practice with me?

Gakupo: Of course, princess.

Miku: Okay, Gakupo ... er, talk dirty to me.

Gakupo: By dirty I suppose you mean toilets?

Miku: No, Gakupo, you're supposed to say something dirty.

Gakupo: Aren't toilets dirty, princess?

At this point the king shoved his fist into his mouth and bursted into tears of laughter, while the queen collapsed on top of him with wails of 'I know, husband, I know'.

In the end, Miku failed to get out of the marriage (but never fear, she thinks to herself, for I will come up with more brilliant plans to carry out) and the king ended up with a stomach ache so bad that he had to stay in his room while the queen and Miku ate dinner alone, with the former shooting long, wistful gazes at her daughter and bursting into sudden tears.

x

"Gakupo, I have thought up of a wonderful plan that will possibly save my life if carried out successfully," Miku said majestically as she can with toast shoved into her mouth at six o'clock in the morning.

"Princess, don't stuff your mouth," Gakupo said automatically. Then, with a sigh, he asks, "and what amazing plan might that be?"

The princess looked over excitedly, swallowing her toast. "We're going to get a fake boyfriend, Gakupo!"

Gakupo raised an eyebrow in surprise. "And may I ask where you got that from, princess?"

Miku proudly brushed her hair away from her eyes, revealing an unhealthy pair of eye-bags. Gakupo flinched backwards. "From the large amount of romance novels I read last night." She grinned triumphantly at her butler. "So, Gakupo, will you please participate in this fake boyfriend expedition?"

"Well, I can't say that it's a good idea, but ..." He eyed Miku's eyes and she tilted her chin upwards to let him look at them more clearly. Finally, he sighed. "On the behalf of your hard work and your happiness, princess, I will accompany you."

The princess's eyed brightened and she looked a great deal happier. She still had that sleepy look on her face, however. "Thank you, Gakupo! I shall be in your debt forever." Then she bowed as courteously as a drowsy person with their mouth stuffed with toast could manage. Gakupo bowed back on instinct.

The head maid, Teto, who had been listening to their conversation (they were actually forced to, since Miku talked very loudly and besides, the dining hall made every sound seem ten times louder than it actually was) stepped forward, her eyes eager and excited. Gakupo flinched for the second time that day. "Ooh, yes, princess, what a splendid plan! May I please participate as well?"

Miku looked pleasantly surprised. "Why, of course," she said. "You know how to talk modern better than the both of us, head maid Teto, and you know the modern dress code well too. I suppose we need someone like you in our group. Welcome."

Teto wasn't sure what to think of that, so she curtseyed gracefully. Several of the maids leaning against the walls watched the trio with interest. "Well, if you two want to be as convincing as possible, I suppose you will need to dress in more ... well, fashionable clothing."

"I read something about princess coats. Can I have a princess coat?" Miku asked.

"No, you may not," said Teto. "It is summer and it is immensely hot. Princess coats are for winters."

"I read something about french berets. Can I wear a french beret at least?" Miku begged.

"No, you may not," said Teto. "What sort of books were you reading, anyway?"

"Romance novels," Gakupo answered. "She stayed up late to read those." Everyone's eyes swivelled to look at the princess, who yawned widely as if on cue.

"There was one series called Twilight and something else that I forgot, with black covers and bleeding objects," she said thoughtfully.

"Did you get your knowledge of princess coats and french berets from there?" Gakupo asked.

"No, I did not," said Miku.

"What was Twilight about?" Teto asked curiously. "I see things like _Still a Better Love Story than Twilight _all over the internet."

"Blood-sucking humans," said Miku. Then she yawned again.

"I have the feeling that you are very tired, princess, you must go to sleep." Gakupo declared to the room. Several butlers nodded.

"But I haven't finished my toast yet," Miku protested. Gakupo and Teto pushed her off her chair and started to drag her to her room. A butler offered his serving trolley for them to push the princess with and was very graciously refused by the three of them.

After Miku got her five hours of nap, they woke her up and after a lot of coaxing on Teto's part, Gakupo and Miku dressed in jeans and collared shirts which they buttoned all the way so they looked extremely stern. Teto was almost done with their neckties when she remembered the real purpose of all the dressing up and made them wear t-shirts instead. Miku would not part with her cotton shirt ("it is very warm, indeed," she said. "it is summer and it is very warm outside, you wouldn't need it," said Teto) but allowed Teto to unbutton the first few buttons. The whole process took nearly one hour.

"Aren't you coming along, Teto?" Gakupo asked when they were done, shifting around uncomfortably in his shirt. Teto shook her head and smiled.

"I have head maid duties to tend to," she explained. "But it's okay, for I am contented to be just your fashion adviser."

"Well, I will let you do your head maid duties, then," Miku said after some thinking. "Thank you, Teto, you have helped us greatly in our mission and you will be rewarded a week off from your head maid duties whenever you want."

Teto looked pleased and astonished. In the castle, the staff rarely got day offs and they were very happy with that, for they enjoyed working with the hilarious (they do not tell them this, however) king and queen and their eccentric children. Princess Miku in particular. Off days were usually a treat for them and an excuse to gossip with the townsfolk (or citizens) about the royal family.

"Let us go, Gakupo," the princess then announced, and with a lot of gusto and imaginary cloak swishing (accompanied by very realistic sound effects by head maid Teto), they exited the door and ventured into the modern world with princess coats and french berets.

x

"Gakupo, we have been searching for one hour straight and we have failed in our boyfriend plan." Miku complained with a mint-flavoured ice cream in her hand and a pair of heels on the other. She and Gakupo were indeed walking for an hour without stopping, and now they had their first break on a bench. Miku took off her shoes whilst eating ice cream in hopes of soothing her blistering feet, but the scorching sun did not help. It just made her cheeks pink with heat. Gakupo kept his on, however, for he was used to standing and walking around all day. He was sweating a bit under the shirt and it made his muscles cling to the shirt. This resulted in both men and women staring at the pair admiringly.

"Don't fret, princess — I mean, Miku, we shall be able to find a suitable fake boyfriend for you soon." Gakupo said assuringly, licking a bit of his strawberry ice cream. Miku found out that he had a bit of an unmanly obsession with strawberries and pink things in general, which both irked and weirded her out.

"But one hour," Miku whined, flapping at her hair. "I'm exhausted."

"Which was the reason why we stopped for a break, pri— I mean, Miku." Gakupo said.

"Well, next time we are going to take a shortcut," Miku decided suddenly, licking ice cream off her hand.

"Shortcut to where?" Inquired Gakupo.

"I have no idea," said Miku. "Let's just take one anyway."

Gakupo agreed to her strange suggestion, and they finished their ice cream cones unwillingly and very slowly, since Gakupo ordered two scoops of strawberry. But in the end they managed to eat everything, and after they washed their hands in a restaurant toilet, Miku dragged Gakupo into a dark, dangerous alley that no one except for stupid humans would go into. And maybe those spies and assassins in movies. Unfortunately, Miku and Gakupo were neither, they were just two tired people trying to take a shortcut to literally nowhere.

When they were halfway through the alley, a loud chorus of voices sounded from the side and a split second later, a gang of rather drunk men around Gakupo and Miku's age appeared, much to the butler's dismay. He was just about to pull Miku out of the way when the men's eyes found Miku and their mouths raised into a lustful leer. Miku didn't really seem fazed by them.

"Why, what a pretty little lady you have there," one of them said, his eyes sparkling red in the flimsy light. "Care to share her with us?" The others hooted and yelled at this. Miku snorted softly.

"No, I don't wanna share," said another. "I want her all for _myself_." He licked his lips suggestively at Miku.

"How about we take turns?" One at the back suggested. All of the men cheered with approval at his suggestion. Miku backed away a little bit. It caught their attention and their grins widened.

"She's _scared _of you, idiot," the leader said, flicking his long fingers angrily. He leaned towards Miku, his breath a horrid combination of cigarettes and beer. "Aren't you?"

Gakupo flared up beside Miku and pushed the man away from her. "Get away from her, you imbecile!" He growled.

The man blinked, then he laughed, along with the others. "_Imbecile? _Who talks like that? Think you're Shakespeare, huh, punk?" He spat.

Gakupo's face twisted with anger and he reached out to grab the man's collar and pulled him upwards so that they were face to face. Since Gakupo was extremely tall, the man's feet dangled off the floor. The other men looked shocked and they hurriedly backed away from Gakupo, not bothering to help their leader.

"Don't you dare to talk about her like that," Gakupo growled.

"Wow," said Miku.

The leader still grinned, although he was evidently frightened. "Is this all you can do, you pimp? Hold me up in the air and threaten me?"

That was enough for Gakupo. He punched the man straight in the jaw so hardly that he fell to the ground in a faint. Then he started on the other men who said anything about Miku.

And suddenly, there were police sirens.

x

"You shouldn't have done that," said Miku in a very serious tone. Gakupo sat in the cell, his head drooping with shame. He looked like a sad dog and Miku rather pitied him.

"But they were going to abduct you and do disgusting things to you, princess," Gakupo whimpered, holding the ice pack that the police very nicely offered to them to his cheek.

"Well, yes, but we could have called the police," Miku said reasonably.

"But they'd be gone by then," Gakupo said forlornly.

"That's quite true," Miku agreed, and they sat there in silence for awhile, when a male policeman with bright yellow hair came to them. He placed his hands on the bars of the cell. "Why, hello," Miku greeted.

The policeman smiled kindly at her, then gestured towards Gakupo. "Your friend will be interrogated soon, but don't worry, he'll get off. We just want to ask him about the group just now," he said. Gakupo sniffed.

"Oh," said Miku. "How about me?"

"You can wait here," he said, dipping his head politely. "Officer Yuri will be accompanying you while you wait." At his words, a woman with long hair as golden as his walked in. She smiled at them and nodded at the policeman, who bowed before flicking his ponytail away from his shoulder and took Gakupo away to another room.

"Charming, isn't he?" Officer Yuri said, smiling at Miku knowingly. She blinked, then realised she had been staring.

"Well, yes," she admitted. "I haven't seen anyone as polite as that in ages." She said, rather truthfully. Excluding the castle staff and her family, actually, there was no one polite at all in the castle. Mainly because the castle was constructed of castle staff and her family. Which meant that she was the only rude person in the whole castle. The thought made her feel bad and she resolved to treat everyone else better in the future. Officer Yuri then spoke up, cutting off her musing.

"It is refreshing," she agreed. They sat in a pleasant silence until Officer Yuri offered Miku some lemonade, which she took gratefully, not realising that she was thirsty for all that time.

"Officer Yuri," Miku said suddenly. She just had an epiphany, and despite everyone saying that epiphanies weren't going to end well, she decided to go along with it.

"Lily would do," she said with a kind smile. Miku had an urge to hug the woman.

"Okay, Lily, then," Miku said, and Lily just continued smiling. "What was that officer's name?"

Lily barely hid her grin. "Why? Is he a potential love interest now?" She seemed rather taken with Miku.

"Um—"

"Actually, he is," said Lily thoughtfully. "He is single and he is young. And he is indeed very handsome and charismatic." She stopped to grin widely at Miku, who wrinkled her forehead rather irritably.

"He is," she agreed with a scratch of her head. Lily blinked at her bluntness. "But it wouldn't _work _unless I know his name, Lily!"

Now believing that Miku was a super cool girl who wasn't afraid of chasing after boys openly, Lily's grin widened so much her mouth looked rather scary. "Chief Kagamine. Or Len, actually. An impressive achievement for a young man like him. He is a hotshot between the ladies but don't tell him that."

"Okay," said Miku. Then she began chanting the name "Len" over and over again whilst listening to Lily tell her everything there was to know about him. In a short span of thirty minutes, Miku learned that his favourite colour was the exact shade of her hair, which weirded her out and thrilled Lily to giggles, that he had a little sister and was incredibly protective of her, that he had a habit of flicking his ponytail over his shoulder, and that he liked to eat bananas but never admitted it. And a lot more things. She felt strange, knowing all these things about a stranger.

But he was essential in her plan, so she brushed away the strangeness and waited for more knowledge on Len, when the very man emerged from the room, talking animatedly to a very happy Gakupo. A tiny blonde girl who looked like a female copy of Len trailed behind them, chattering excitedly. Lily waved at the girl and she grinned widely, running over.

"Lily!" Tiny female Len clone trilled, flying towards the woman excitedly.

"Rin!" Lily yelled in reply, spreading her arms open. A very cosy reunion ensued.

Meanwhile, Gakupo and Miku had a not-very-subtle conversation. Gakupo pointed at Len behind his back before pointing his thumbs upwards, indicating that Len is a suitable man. Miku waved her hands and mouthed 'I know' back. Len smiled at Lily and Rin (who were gaping at Miku and Gakupo), oblivious to the two people pointing behind his back.

"Okay, Le— Chief Kagamine," Miku said loudly, to get Len's attention. Apparently she wasn't aware that he was already looking at her before that. He blinked and hurriedly pretended that he wasn't, but the other three knew that he was looking at her, so it was quite pointless to pretend.

"Len would do," he said, sounding a lot like Lily.

"Okay, Len, then," Miku said. "I am about to make an announcement. Please listen carefully for this is very important." She took a deep breath. Lily was making suspenseful noises and Gakupo looked on sternly. Rin's eyes were darting between Gakupo, Len and Miku at high speed. "I would like to recruit you as my boyfriend. Husband. Boyfriend. Same thing." Then she bowed. "_Please_. My life depends on this."

"Depends is exaggerating," said Gakupo. He looked uncomfortable, but then again Gakupo is always uncomfortable.

Len blinked with confusion, the poor boy. "Um. What?"

Lily nearly yelled with happiness. She surged forwards and engulfed Miku in a very tearful hug. "You brave, brave, girl, you!" She weeped. "That was the best confession I've ever seen! It weird, a bit, yes, but it's still a better love story than Twilight!"

"Oh!" gasped Miku. "I recall hearing head maid Teto mention that. She said she saw it around on the internet!"

Everyone (excluding Gakupo) gave her strange looks. "Haven't you?"

"Guys, I don't think we are supposed to be worrying about that now?" Len said hesitantly. "She just ... asked me to be her boyfriend?"

Rin the tiny Len clone tugged at his shirt. "Why don't you, brother?" She asked innocently. She even had this cute high-pitched voice that melted Miku's heart. She could see it melted Len's too, because he immediately softened.

He bent down to pick up his sister and swung her around, much to her delight. "Do you want me to?" He asked, holding Rin to his chest. She clung to his shirt and giggled.

"Yes! Big sister is pretty! Just like Lily!" She yelled. Lily held her face in her hands shyly, laughing. Gakupo smiled at her.

Len turned to smile at Miku. He looked very kind then. "Very well then, miss, I will ... be recruited as your boyfriend. Well, that was weird." He smiled down at Rin. "If that's what Rin wants, then I'll do it."

Miku stared at him disbelievingly. This man ... was it possible for someone to be so romantic? She cringed a bit.

"But I don't know your name yet," Len said abruptly. Miku blinked. Gakupo groaned. Lily sighed and mumbled something about love at first sight. Rin continued to scream.

"Well, it's Miku," said Miku, bowing. Len dipped his head in return. Gakupo nodded in approval. Lily blinked and mumbled something about not knowing Miku's name as well.

Then, quite suddenly, Len backed away and stared at her with wide eyes. "Miku ... Hatsune Miku! Aren't you that princess?"

Miku grinned and clicked her fingers. "Yes, I am! You are in fact the first person to realise that!"

"And ... I am the princess's boyfriend?" Len asked disbelievingly, nearly dropping Rin.

"Well, it's a worldwide crisis," said Miku. Everyone (excluding Gakupo) looked at her. "I'll explain later."

Then, Len did the most normal thing anyone would do when they're in his situation. He bent over, covered his face, and groaned.

Meanwhile, tiny Rin pointed at Gakupo and yelled gleefully: "Purple man!"


	2. princesses and policemen

"Say, if you two hadn't found me, what would you do?" Len asked, struggling with a sleepy Rin.

Miku shrugged. "Go home and seek consultation from head maid Teto. Cry a bit, maybe. Vent out my anger. Read more romance novels. Avoid parents." Then she shrugged again. "Something like that."

Gakupo wrinkled his nose. "We would be in big trouble, actually," he said. "Once your royal parents His Majesty and Her Highness know where we've been and what we've been doing."

"True," agreed Miku.

"So are you going to convince your parents that you love Len instead of your fiancé?" Lily asked sulkily from her chair. She was still miffed and frustrated from the fact that Miku did not like Len and was actually using him for her plans.

"Probably," said Miku. "If they believe it, then I will continue. If they do not, then there is nothing I can do except accepting my fate and marrying the prince." Here she shrugged her third shrug with a forlorn expression.

"Then I must pretend wholeheartedly that I am completely infatuated with you," said Len helpfully, finally coaxing Rin to settle down beside Lily with an orange.

"Thank you, Chief Kagamine, I am immensely grateful for all your help." And she bowed, along with Gakupo. Len had on a very Gakupo-like look on his face as he stiffly watched them bow.

"Um. Er." He scratched his head and accepted a piece of orange from his sister. "You're ... welcome?"

"Never mind that," said Lily whilst sitting up in her chair abruptly, her eyes lined with worry. "Are you going back to the castle or are you going to stay outside here?"

"Good question," said Gakupo. Everyone jumped in surprise. "I suppose we have to stay in a hotel for the night, princess."

"True," said Miku again.

"Noooo," protested Rin beside Lily, chewing on her orange sleepily. "Rin want purple man. Rin want! Purple! PURPLE RIN!" She screamed. Everyone covered their ears.

"Or," piped up Len timidly, "you can stay in my house? I need to introduce you to my parents, too, if I have a ... well, girlfriend ..." His voice became softer and softer until it trailed to a stop at the end of his sentence. He looked genuinely scared and Miku quite pitied him.

"Purple man!" Rin yelled while pointing at Gakupo. "Eat orange! Rin's orange! Orange nice! Purple orange!" She offered her chewed orange to him before dropping into a stupor again. Gakupo looked troubled and leant forward to take it but was stopped by Lily.

"Sorry," said Lily apologetically, throwing Rin's orange into the dustbin and wiping her hands. "She's always like this when she's sleepy. She acts like she's drunk and stuff, I know."

"Well," said Miku after some time. "I guess we will have to accept your nice invitation to live in your home. Is that okay, Gakupo?"

Gakupo nodded stiffly. "I think Teto will understand why we didn't come home. Besides, it's a bit too late to go back now."

Miku turned to Len with a smile. "Okay Chief Kagamine, we'll stay in your house for the night."

He smiled stiffly. "Let's go, then."

x

The journey to Len's home was not quiet. In fact, it was very noisy, for every single person in the car kept doing annoying things, like Rin screaming in her sleep, Gakupo trying to make her settle down and yelling when he failed, and Miku constantly patting the car seats and saying things like "So this is a car" and "I've never been in one before, wow". Then Len would have to yell at all of them to shut up. They would, and after around ten seconds they would be noisy again.

"We're here," sighed the poor man quietly. The princess beside him is ogling at his house.

"It looks like a haunted house," said Miku bluntly. Len felt mildly offended.

"Why?" He asked whilst switching off the engine.

"It's all dark and stuff," she explained, twirling her hands around. "And ... well, it's dark. Also there's a white thing hanging on the door."

"That's a towel," said Len. "We hung it up to dry."

"Oh," said Miku. "Well, that explains it."

_How does my house look like a haunted house in the first place, anyway? _Thought Len.

"Wait, Chief Kagamine, if everyone in the house is asleep, then how are we supposed to introduce Miku?" Gakupo asked from the backseat.

"They went out," said Len. "I thought that they'd be back once I came home, but I guess not." He shrugged, and exited the car. Miku hurriedly unbuckled her seatbelt and ran out after him. Gakupo had more trouble, because he had to take care of Rin.

"Princess— I mean, Miku, you can sleep in the guest room, the one next to my room, and ... err, Mister Butler ..."

"Gakupo," offered Miku kindly.

"Gakupo," said Len gratefully. "you can sleep in the other guest room. I'd let you sleep with Rin but ... well, she's a girl and you're a ... man ..."

"I understand," said Gakupo graciously. "And I thank you for your hospitality." He bowed. Len shifted a little bit.

"But I thanked him already!" Miku complained. "Now you make me seem rude!"

"It's fine," said Len with a smile. "It's just one night, anyway. Or are you planning to stay longer?"

"Just one night," Miku confirmed in a sing-song tone. Behind her, Gakupo fiddled with his shirt. "Thank you."

Len nodded, and opened the door for them. Miku more or less threw off her heels, happy to part with them, while Gakupo politely took of his and arranged both his and Miku's shoes neatly in a corner. Len marvelled at his tidiness and efficiency, but then again Gakupo was a butler. He was trained to do this. Len wondered if Gakupo could cook as well.

"I can cook if you're too tired, Chief," Gakupo offered, as if reading Len's mind. Miku turned to look at them, eyes gleaming.

"We get _food_? Wow, this is amazing! I never expected that I would get food at this time! Amazing! Is this what they call supper, Gakupo?" She chirped, fluttering around the two men like a bird. Rin squeaked a bit in her sleep.

"I believe it is, princess," said Gakupo. "Except it isn't really late. It's just nine, princess."

"I usually sleep at ten," Miku told Len. "Bit stupid, really, because I'm eighteen and I still have a curfew. For no particular reason. I don't follow it, anyway."

"It's for your health, princess," said Gakupo. "Wait, you don't follow it?"

"Now I feel bad," Len spoke up. "I usually sleep at twelve in the morning."

"That's two hours later than me," said Miku in awe. "Can _I _sleep at twelve, too?"

"No one's going to stop you," said Len with a grin. It was unnerving. Miku had never seen him grin before. "Rin sleeps at nine, usually, so you can accompany her or something, if you want."

"No," said Miku obstinately. "If I can sleep at twelve, then I'm going to sleep at twelve."

"You sound like a child, princess, stop it," said Gakupo sternly.

"No," said Miku again. But she did waver a bit. Then she hopped into the house and nearly crashed into a wall.

"Careful, it's dark—" Len warned, but before he could finish, she crashed into the umbrella stand, and afterwards, into the wall. Then Miku lay down on the floor in a curled-up ball of embarrassment and pain. "... in here ... Well."

"I told you, princess," said Gakupo from the back.

"You told me nothing!" Miku complained.

"I told you, continuously, for nearly your whole existence and at least thrice every morning, that you should look in front of you while you walk and be careful. This is why you need a curfew. Because you might _fall_." Gakupo said with a disapproving sniff. He reminded Len of a mother hen.

"You could just, like, turn on the _lights_!" She yelled, holding her toe now. "It's all your fault that you turn off the castle lights! At ten! It's idiotic!"

"Your royal parents the king and queen want to save power," said Gakupo.

"Well, I don't care about their power carp!"

"Crap," corrected Gakupo.

Len turned on the lights at that point, and squatted beside the princess with a hand outstretched. "It's okay now, princess, come on."

Miku stared at him beneath her bangs. Her stare turned into a scornful glare at his words. Len retracted his hand quietly. "Eurgh, don't say that, you sound like a copy from the romance novels. It's disgusting. Ninety-percent of the male protagonists say that. It's disgusting."

"Okay," said Len.

Miku helped herself up and examined his house with her legs crossed. It was neat and the walls were made out of brown wood. There was an umbrella stand, the one she crashed into, and several umbrellas were on the floor. They were all plain, except for a white one with bright fruits printed all over it, which she guessed was Rin's. Beside the umbrella stand was a shoe rack, again with boring plain sandals, to shiny leather shoes that probably belonged to Len, and bright Mary-Janes of every colour possible. There was also a coat rack. Miku wondered if there was any princess coats on it. After that, there was a long, stretching hall, and beyond that, she could see a bit of a red couch.

"Come on, let's go," said Len again, and with Rin nestled snugly in his arms, he walked into the hall. Miku and Gakupo watched him, and when he turned around to look at them questioningly, they followed. It was as neat as Miku expected. There _was _a red couch, and two black sofas, which were arranged in front of a television that sat on a chest of white drawers. There was a door labelled as 'kitchen' in tidy fonts, and beside the kitchen were stairs. They could see the outline of Len and his sleeping sister, climbing upwards.

"Up here," he called, and Gakupo followed him while Miku stayed doubtfully behind. She didn't want to fall down.

"I think I'm staying down here," she said. "I ... want to explore."

"You're not going to fall down, you know, it's safe," said Len. Miku tried to pretend that she wasn't worried about that and ignored him. Instead, she opened the door to the kitchen. It made her wonder if everyone in Len's house was this neat. Even though it wasn't big, it looked comfortable and spacious. There was a sink, a refrigerator (she was tempted to open it and scourge it for food but it occurred to her that it might be rude to do so), several spatulas and pans hanging from hooks, and a lot of cabinets. In the middle of the kitchen there was a sturdy wooden table. She pulled out a chair and settled down there, relieving her sore feet of their pain.

Len and Gakupo came down eventually, and Miku was surprised to see that Rin was dancing around their feet energetically, like she wasn't asleep seconds ago. Len noticed, and smiled apologetically. He seemed to do that a lot. "Sorry, when we were tucking her in she suddenly woke up and insisted that we make her soup. She likes soup a lot."

As if on cue, Rin raised her hands and screamed "Soup!" multiple times. Then she smashed her head onto Gakupo's leg. Miku was worried about Rin when she did that.

"I'm going to make soup," said Len, tying an apron around his body. Miku thought that aprons were meant for girls, but she didn't say anything about that. "You can explore if you want."

"Oh." Miku said numbly. "I already explored, but."

Gakupo began dragging her out of the kitchen to let Len make his soup in peace. When Rin started trailing behind them joyfully, Len called out, "Sorry, Gakupo, can you stay in the kitchen? I don't want Rin to run around the house before she drinks soup."

"Why not?" Miku asked. Len and Rin had weird habits.

"It'll make her too tired to drink soup," Len explained. Like Rin isn't excited at the moment.

"I'll be going in, then, princess," said Gakupo while gesturing towards the kitchen. She nodded, and sure enough, Rin began following Gakupo closely back into the kitchen.

Miku stared up at the stairs doubtfully, unwilling to fall from the stairs and embarrass herself more, so she decided to sit down on the couch and wait for Len to finish cooking soup. She could smell it already, and it smelt nice. She realised that Len was more girly than her, with all the cooking and babysitting, and it made her feel bad again. But, she defended, there's nothing you could do about it, is there, when you're a princess? No, there isn't. Then she felt better.

Suddenly the front door opened, and after quite a lot of noise and yells of "I'm home!", a man and a woman who can only be Len's parents unless they were his other boyfriend and girlfriend which wasn't possible came in. They stared at Miku in surprise. She stared back.

"Why, hello," said Len's mother breathlessly. Len's father just stared.

"Um. Er. Hello. Carp. Crap. Um. Uh." Miku shifted around and eventually stood up. She didn't know what to do, so she bowed instead. "Hello, Len's mother and Len's father, I am Miku, and I have just recruited him as my boyfriend. I mean. Pretend you didn't hear that. Just pretend that you know my name is Miku and nothing else."

This seemed to snap the two of them out of their trance. "Okay," said Len's mother.

"Len has a _girlfriend_?" His father asked incredulously. Rin ran out from the kitchen with a small mug of hot soup in her hands and pointed gleefully at Miku.

"Look, mummy, daddy, Len has a _girly_!" She yelled. Miku smiled at her.

"I think you mean girlfriend, sweetheart," said her father. "And yes, that appears to be the case."

"Hello," said Miku again.

They looked at her as if she was an angel or something as surreal. Then Len's mother took her hand with surprising strength and began to drag her upstairs. Len decided to appear at that moment and Miku thought that it was fair for him to look very scared.

"Mum! _Mum_! Stop! Stop pulling her! That's — well — Miku!" He yelled unnecessarily.

"Of course it is!" Miku yelled back, and clamped her mouth shut. Eventually she started thinking of a game plan, because surely Len's mother would interrogate her, and if she couldn't come up with a good enough answer, she might be banned to date Len. And then ... she would need to marry Prince Rei! Miku's resolve hardened. _It's fine, Miku, you can think up of something. Okay. The story will be that I fell for him ... somewhere. And then somehow I managed to tell him my feelings. That's perfect! _She sighed. _It's not._

"Come on in, honey," said Len's mother, with a kind smile. Miku rubbed her arms and backed away a little bit. She didn't trust that smile at all. But she entered the room after Len's mother anyway into his parent's room. There was nothing much to be seen except for a bed big enough for two people, a closet, a neat table, and a shelf containing several pictures. It was a clean, neat, and classic room. Miku thought about her messy room with books piled everywhere possible, and she wondered how many times a person could feel bad.

They both sat down on the bed, and Len's mother spoke up first since Miku was obviously unwilling to. "So. You are dating my son. Unfortunately he does not have many girlfriends and I find that very sad. So obviously I am very happy that he has a girlfriend. Even though he is, like, well. Really old." She coughed. "Anyway. I know this is very rude but if I ask Len he's going to give me crap like 'I guess I liked her and it was mutual and then we started dating' like the last time he had a girlfriend, so I am going to ask you. Please don't mind me asking you."

I do, very much, is what Miku doesn't say. Instead she carries out her game plan. "Ah. That is simple." She didn't even know if this is going to work. "I, ah, saw him, in, like, a restaurant! And then I liked him! And then one day I told him! And then we started dating!" And immediately Miku regretted it. Her plan was so _fishy_. She just hoped that Len's mother was a nice human who never doubted anything.

Len's mother looked, unfortunately, very doubtful. "That's strange ... I don't think Len will date anyone unless he knows them quite well ... well, guess I was wrong."

"Um, Rin persuaded him to?" Miku offered hopefully. Len's mother visibly relaxed, and so did she.

"Ah. That makes sense. He's a sucker for his sister, it's stupid. One time Rin ran into his room at four in the morning and yelled at him to make soup for her, and guess what? He did. What a silly man. He didn't even realise that she was sleepwalking." Len's mother sighed fondly. Miku felt more worried. How could someone sleepwalk and ask for soup?

Len's mother smiled. "I hope he takes care of you, you seem like a nice lady. What did you say your name was, again? Miku ... right?" Miku nodded. "That reminds me of someone ... but ... mm ... I can't seem to think who!"

"Probably reminds you of me," said Miku hurriedly. "I think there's only one Miku in this country, never fear."

Len's mother smiled a bit. "Okay, then."

"Wait a second, Len's mother, can I ask you something?" Miku said suddenly. Len's mother nodded. "Are you going to bash my head out for dating your son? I read in books that parents do that to their daughter's boyfriends— wait, Len's a boy ... man ... Are you?"

Len's mother laughed. "No, I'm not, if that's what you're afraid of." Miku let out a sigh of relief. "The one who's going to bash your head out is probably Rin," she continued, and Miku stiffened up again. "But since Rin rather likes you, I suppose no one's going to bash your head out." Len's mother concluded.

"Oh," said Miku mildly. "That's nice."

"It ... is, I guess?"

x

"Now, Len," said Miku, "we're going to thank the stars and the wind and the earth and the universe for not dying and winning your parents's approval." She clasped her hands together and bowed to the window. Len looked confused, but he followed her and bowed as well. The clock on the wall said that it was ten o'clock.

After Miku and Len's mother had their talk, Len's father had stonily looked at her and said, gruffly: "I guess she's okay." And then they had soup (a lot of it), and Gakupo was to sleep in the guest room while Miku slept with Rin. Apparently, the young child liked Miku as much as she liked Gakupo. Len's father liked Gakupo more than he liked Miku, something that she found very dismaying and scary. But Gakupo was someone who made people like Len's parents like him, anyway, with his manners and his neatness.

"I'm going to work a bit, now," said Len after some time, straightening up. Miku had to look up at him, since he was tall. But not as tall as Gakupo, thought Miku proudly. Sadly, Miku was shorter than the both of them. She cursed herself for getting her mother's short genes. "You can go to sleep first," Len said with a smile, and he made to go upstairs when Miku gripped his arm tightly and glared at him. He inched away a little.

"I'm _coming with you_," she said threateningly. "Please please _please_. I wouldn't annoy you. I'm just going to stare at you a bit. Then I will go to sleep."

"That doesn't sound very settling," said Len uneasily.

"It sounded better in my head," Miku assured him. "Come on. We have to act close anyway, right? I read in books that couples have pet names for each other, whatever that is. I can come up with you now, while you work."

"But how am I going to concentrate ...?"

"You can come up with one for me, too, see, it's like team work—"

"Min," said Len immediately. "_Min_. That's the best I could come up with. It's cute, too."

"Oh," said Miku.

"Yeah," said Len.

"Well, then I'll call you ... Len ... Len ... _Lamp ... _Lampy."

"_What?_"

"Lampy. My little lamp-light. Oh-my-goodness-is-this-stupid." She took a deep breath and composed herself. "You're my lampy-lighty. I don't know. You light my future like a lamp. You're the lamp to my light. Or I can call you Llama. Or Lamby. Pick one."

"They're all—"

"How about Lenny-poo-poo?"

"No!" He yelled. "That sounds like ... you're calling me poop."

"Lenny-feces?" Miku suggested.

"This is getting worse and worse," sighed Len.

"There's nothing I can do. Your name is _short_. There's only one syllable and three letters! I have to make use of what I can!" Miku said defensively.

Len just rubbed his forehead tiredly.

"Lampy, then," said Miku finally. "You're going to cope with it. You're lampy and I'm ... Min. See?"

Len stared at her, and to her surprise, he burst out laughing. "You're funny, you know," he wheezed while trying to calm down.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" She asked.

"Probably a good thing," he said, smiling.

That night, with Rin tossing around and occasionally giving Miku a slap in the face, Miku thinks of Len and his smiles, and she decides that: _He's not so bad after all_.

x

"Len. Len. Lampy. Llama. Lamby. Lamp-light." Miku said as she shook the sleeping figure on the bed.

It grunted and turned away from her. She let out a growl of frustration.

"Wake _up_, you little carp, I mean crap!" She yelled, shaking the man.

Eventually he woke up, and when he did, he rubbed his eyes sleepily and blinked slowly at Miku. "What is it? Its—" Len glanced at the clock beside his bed, "—six in the morning. It's way too early to wake up."

"It isn't," said Miku irritably. "Come on, get up, get _up_—"

"What? Why? What's going on?" Len asked, now sounding very worried.

"Get yourself up, we're going to the castle, Len!" She said, managing to drag him out from the bed. She tried to ignore the fact that he was shirtless, but unfortunately it was very hard.

"What?" He said incredulously.

"We're going to meet my parents, Len!"

And it was only normal that she had to clamp her hand over his mouth to stop him from yelling out loud in surprise and waking his whole family as a result.


End file.
